In your dreams
by WedJes.Writes
Summary: After a long day of everything going wrong, the only solace seems to be in sleep, and in waking things only get worse- they get stranger at the very least. Eventually Kylo Ren realises that everything appears better in dreams, even the people.
1. Chapter 1

No amount of therapeutic console destruction could've put Kylo Ren in a better mood today. He wasn't angry, well, he was, but that wasn't the point, he was only angry, because he was sad. He was having a bout of depression, and he was becoming increasingly frustrated, as there wasn't a single thing he could think to do to stop it. It just wasn't his day, and that wasn't on, it wasn't fair, why should he have to feel this way while everyone else was fine?

Hux appeared to be his usual 'stick-up-his-arse' self, Phasma was as cool and cold as ever, and the troops, well they were an obedient collective, unlikely to feel much out of the ordinary without being told to do so.

Kylo saw it as a great injustice that the day was treating his so poorly, and as such he had chosen to display that in his actions, stalking the corridors with heavy footfalls, staring at individuals he could hardly say he knew, for minutes on end, imagining what he would do to them if they dared cross him, shoving past as many people as physically possible when travelling from one place to another.

It was doing very little to ease the glumness that pervaded him however.

There was no reason that Kylo could see as to why he should be feeling as he was.

The day had started normally enough. He'd woken in his single, slightly chilly bed early, stared up at the ceiling until his alarm had gone off a half an hour later, done a hundred sit-ups and push-ups and then gone to the training room for a further hour to use the running machines, and to practise with his lightsabre in a safe environment. Then he got back to his room, showered for ten minutes in scolding hot water and a further five in freezing cold, ate most of a one person helping of jentacular space mush, dressed promptly, checked his communication devices for correspondences that weren't there and then put on his helmet. By the time he left his room on this occasion, the corridors were starting to fill with people, all of which avoided him as always as he made his way to the bridge. He'd then spent an hour or so drifting around people working at consoles, his movements silent, but his breathing eerily present, until Hux had shown up from a meeting and scowled at him. Kylo then of course spent another half an hour trailing behind the general, just in an attempt to frustrate him, and had then gotten bored.

By lunch, he was back in the solitude of his room, eating a further helping of space gruel, and doing a little bit of research into old Sith lords.

It was as he was leaving his room for the afternoon schedule of more taunting Hux, and disrupting his work force, that Kylo paused and noticed something thoroughly depressing.

He hadn't spoken, at all, all day. Not that it was in his nature to say much of anything at any time, but it was a somewhat upsetting notion all the same.

The repetitive quality of his daily agenda was getting to him as well. He did the same things, day in and day out, in fact, it was so repetitive that his morning and evening plans only differed by one action… he didn't shower in the evening.

Thus the need to, stalk, stare and barge had overtaken him.

Kylo persisted with the obnoxious activities well into the late afternoon, until the corridors were once again waning in their users, and he was running out of people to target. He instead chose to go back to the bridge, finding that it too, was starting to empty of people.

Hux was still there of course, and a few of his closer circle of subordinates. The men and women worked at their consoles monotonously, their eyes fixed on the screens, their hands working at eerily similar paces as they inputted data with exact precision.

Hux was stood at the top of the deck however, his hands clasped behind his back, and his pale blue eyes staring out at the vastness of space. His expression was incomprehensible, an incalculable combination of impassive, and indecipherable.

Kylo approached him head on, and it was only when he was a few feet away that the redhead acknowledged him- it was unclear as to whether he had seen him earlier than that however-,

"Can I help you with something Ren?" he asked, sparing the man in question eye contact,

Still feeling thoroughly out of sorts, Kylo chose to remain silent as a way of answer,

"I see" Hux said, the irony just traceable in his words, "Well, if you change your mind, I'll be here" he sighed, suddenly turning on his heal and starting back down the bridge towards one of the sets of stairs that led down to 'the pit', where his workers still sat stationary at their consoles.

At the very simple interaction, Kylo was left seething. The general had a very specific way of aggravating him, it mostly consisted of the redhead making sarcastic comments and thinly veiled insults at every possible occasion.

Kylo huffed quite audibly, but kept his mouth shut, opting instead to get to the training room where he could suitably use up all of his stored frustration. He stomped across the bridge, his breathing shallow and concentrated, even as he knocked almost head on into a uniformed officer, who stumbled back several feet at the contact, his clipboard holding hands shaking a little. The knight continued on however, and once he was in the empty and closed off training room, he ripped his helmet from his head and tossed it across the room, making it hit the opposite wall with a clatter, and bounce several times across the floor.

He had no idea why he was in so much anguish, why every little thing was setting him off, or how he was meant to stop it all,

Kylo tightened his fists at his sides and then let out a deep sigh. For now there was only one thing he could think of.

The ravenette stripped down to his vest and trousers and started with a rigorous pace on the punching bag, hitting it over and over again, making the chain suspending it from the ceiling whine and shudder with each blow. He would hit it until he felt better, or until it split from the impacts, whatever came last.

After a good hour though, his brow was slicked liberally with sweat, making his drenched hair stick to it, the punching bag was still entirely intact and he was feeling no better,

Kylo sighed and let the bag swing until it was stationary once more, he then gripped it and rested his burning cheek against the cool vinyl, gasping out breaths of exhaustion,

He would have burst into another fit of anger at the fact that his exertion had done nothing to diminish the despair within him, if it weren't for the fact that he had been left totally drained by his attempts.

He resolved to call it a night, having had quite enough of the entire day, and deciding that the only option now was to end it with a much-deserved sleep,

Gathering his clothes, he started from the training room, finding himself once again walking through an empty corridor. He got back to his room in next to no time and promptly dumped everything including his helmet, on the floor, deciding that the day had been stressful enough, and that the clothes were a concern for tomorrow.

Kylo tied his hair into a small ponytail, and collapsed onto his bed, sighing all the while. It took far more effort than it seemed worth, but eyes closed, he managed to lift and twist the duvet to cover most of him, one leg sticking off the bed, and one arm sliding under his pillow, his chest pressed to the mattress.

It took several, several minutes for Kylo to become comfortable, and after perhaps half an hour, he even wriggled out of his trousers, as they had ridden up in his movements and had gotten uncomfortably tight in places.

Eventually, his eyes drifted closed, too heavy to stay open, and in the next moment, thankfully, he was entirely dead to the world.

0o0o0

Kylo woke with a groan, immediately convinced that he'd only drifted off a matter of minutes before, because he still felt entirely drained.

He shifted in the bed, rolling his shoulders and gripping the pillow beneath his head tighter, stretching out his fingers, making them crack and strain,

He took in one deep breath, catching the clean scent of laundered cotton and shampoo on the pillow, and he found himself sighing as he exhaled, instantly relaxed by the gentle smell, comforted even- he was already convinced that the day was bound to be better.

The ravenette was just about ready to fall back to sleep, regardless of what the time was, but as he burrowed his head further into his pillow, an out of place sound pervaded the silence,

It was a chuckle, an actual chuckle, as in, a laugh, from another person.

Kylo froze in place and waited, sure he was hearing things,

The mattress then shifted beside him however, and a warm hand was suddenly placed on his bare back. It traced his spine, his shoulder blades and then even his individual muscles, a slight pressure baring down on them from the delicate fingertips, leaving the knight feeling nothing but conflicted. As disturbing as it was to have an unknown person touching him, Kylo, knight of Ren, in his private room that should've been locked, found that the hands' ministrations felt incredible pressing against his skin, massaging out all of the anger from the day before,

Just as the ravenette had decided to enjoy the contact for just a little longer before concerning himself with who was delivering it, the hands promptly stopped, and another chuckle sounded,

"Do you want a coffee?" asked a familiar voice,

Kylo swallowed thickly, and paused, there was only one thing for it.

He turned his head to the side, and opened his eyes, blinking against the shockingly bright light pouring into the room instantly- that in itself was another peculiarity, even in the morning, the ship was dark, it was in space after all, and all the light was artificial, but this light was definitely from the a sun,

The ravenette's eyes then adjusted and he finally saw, head on, the face attached to the marvellous hands.

Hux was lying beside him in the bed, holding himself up on his elbows, an uncharacteristically bright smile directed straight at Kylo,

As odd as that was, he didn't look out of place in the room they were in.

It was unlike anything the knight had even seen. The walls were painted white, bearing pieces of art and shelves filled with books, the bed was made for two, dressed with clean white sheets, and finally, there were possessions, actual possessions throughout the room. Photo frames, statuettes, even a couple of children's soft toys sat together in a wicker chair in the corner.

Hux was still staring at him, his smile having dropped a little, "Ben?" he asked cautiously, "Coffee?",

Kylo blinked, had the redhead just called him 'Ben'?

He didn't answer to that name anymore, he hadn't for years,

The longer the knight spent in this place, wherever it was, the stranger things got,

He lifted himself off the bed a little, tucking his arms under his body, perhaps in a subconscious effort to cover himself.

Mouth closed tightly, he nodded, opting to avoid eye contact from that moment on, until things started to make sense again,

Hux chuckled once more, and made to get out of the bed, "Looks like it's a little early for someone still, take your time waking up" he then promptly leant in and pressed a soft kiss to Kylo's cheek, making his eyes widen in an instant,

The knight then watched as the other man left the room, dressed in nothing but a pair of tight black briefs and a grey vest, showing off his long slender legs, and freckle covered shoulders,

"I've gone insane" Kylo mumbled to himself, dropping his head back down into the pillow with a thump.


	2. Chapter 2

Kylo took a deep, deep breath in through his nose, quite sure that everything that had just transpired was some kind of bizarre hallucination. His eyes were squeezed shut, as he tried to concentrate on the things that should have been surrounding him. The firm, standard issue mattress that he should have been lying on, the lumpy, scentless pillow beneath his head, the dark metallic walls and the pitch blanket of space out of the wall sized window.

The bed was unspeakably comfortable however, as was the pillow that smelt of mint and tea tree and when the ravenette lifted himself back off of the bed, he was once again met with white painted walls, and the two small windows that let the golden sunlight pour into the room, making it all the more bright.

He sighed and turned over, going instead to sit up in the bed, the pillow supporting his back against the headboard- the only way to find out what was happening was to get through it.

Just as Kylo settled into his new seated position, and begrudgingly began to once more enjoy the comfort of the bed, Hux appeared back in the doorway, a mug now in hand,

"Here you go" he said, approaching the bed.

He sat back on the side of the mattress he had been lying on earlier, and handed the white mug over to the other man,

Kylo eyed it for perhaps just a few more seconds longer than he should of, but then took it from his hands, their fingers touching briefly, making the taller man twitch his back a little, while Hux didn't react.

Deciding that he wanted to move his attention to something, anything else, other than the orange haired man beside him, he lifted the mug to his mouth, taking a sip of the hot, dark coffee,

The slightly sweet, bitter liquid warmed Kylo's entire mouth and throat, and he was suddenly glad of it, as not only was the warmth a great comfort, it was also far more delicious than anything he had drank on the Finalizer.

Licking his lips, he finally spared another glance up at Hux, who was now looking over his nails,

"Hux?" Kylo asked, frowning a little,

The other man looked back over at him, and let out a small laugh, "'Hux'? Why are we using last names _Solo_? Am I in trouble? Is the coffee that bad?"

The ravenette blinked and quickly shook his head, "No! It's good… thank you",

"Good" Hux nodded, before sighing softly, "I'm going to go and make some breakfast, take your time getting up", he said, before pressing a quick kiss to Kylo's cheek again and then clambering off of the bed.

As soon as the man was out of sight, Kylo deposited the still full mug of coffee on the bedside table, set to ransack the room if necessary to find out what was going on. A small black device that already sat on the table immediately caught his attention however, and a little cautiously, Kylo picked it up, weighing it in hand. He then pressed the small button on its side, the only imperfection on its surface, and the glass face of the object lit up. The ravenette raised an eyebrow at that, it seemed that the device was not all that dissimilar to a data-pad, only smaller.

His eyes then widened as he realised just what it was that he was seeing before him.

The screen now depicted a picture of him, although not one he could ever remember having been taken, or having posed for, for that matter.

It was he and Hux, their faces close together, his own head surrounded by his dark hair and a black knitted hat, and Hux's topped by a jacket hood, his ginger hair falling just into sight from beneath it. The minimal amount of sky that could be seen around them was bright white, probably warning snow, and their cheeks and noses were stained red, especially Hux's.

They were both smiling into the camera, but that was the least of it. Their eyes glowed with a kind of joy, tiny creases around them indicating just how pleased they were. They seemed oh so happy, not just that, but they seemed overjoyed to be together, and so close at that.

Kylo blinked and shook his head, tapping the small icon of an envelope instead, letting the image be covered by several message strands. There were a few names that stood out, familiar to him, but the most intriguing was the one at the top of the list- 'Armitage Hux 3'.

Kylo had hardly even heard of the name 'Armitage' before, let alone anyone called it.

He shrugged and selected the conversation, being faced immediately with reams upon reams of messages,

There were mundane ones about nothing in particular, serious ones about work (whatever work was), but more prominently, hundreds about their apparent relationship.

His eyes worked down the list until he noticed the frequency with which one particular phrase was used,

'I love you'.

Kylo felt the need to avert his eyes suddenly, getting the odd sensation that he was intruding on something very personal, something he shouldn't be seeing, even though half the conversation, half of the 'I love yous' were coming from him, in a way.

'Armity'

A few of the messages saw Kylo calling Hux 'Armity'.

That would do.

He pressed the button on the side of the device again, and put it back on the bedside table, scrambling out of the bed as he went.

Kylo paused briefly, his eyes on the messy bed- it could be made later, present matters were more important,

He left the room, finding himself in a short, sparsely decorated corridor. To the right lay two more doors, both of which were closed, and to the left the corridor opened up. Kylo opted for the latter, and he made his way down it in a few steps, discovering the much larger space that waited there. To his left was a comfortable looking communal type area, with seats draped with blankets and cushions, a low table that was neat, but stacked with a few well-ordered piles of books, and a huge window that lit the space liberally. Finally, there was another large screen that was currently off, reflecting what lay behind him in its shiny black surface.

Kylo turned to get a better look at the final uninspected room.

It was some kind of kitchen room, a room in which Hux was now busying himself in.

"Oh, there you are" the man said as he turned, finding Kylo stood behind him, "Are you not cold?" he then smirked, raising an eyebrow,

The ravenette looked down to find that he was only dressed in a tight pair of black briefs, having hardly considered getting dressed when he left the bedroom, "Ehh-" he shrugged, feeling his cheeks darkening a little, "-I'm alright"

"Okay" Hux said, letting out a little laugh, using a spatula he then transferred some bacon from the pan that sat on the stove to a plate on the adjacent countertop, "Breakfast" he then announced, placing the plate on the small breakfast nook that separated the kitchen from the communal space, "Go on then" he added, gesturing at the plate.

Kylo blinked, but then swiftly sat himself down on the stool by the table top, regarding the breakfast as he had been instructed to. It looked far better than what passed for a breakfast on the Finalizer, that was for sure, and it smelt better too.

The ravenette took up the fork that was waiting beside the plate and used it to cut into a fried egg, making the bright orange yolk split, and pour out over the rest of the plate and its contents. He then jabbed the soft piece of egg, now drenched in yellow goop, and raised it to his mouth, placing it on his tongue, before chewing it slowly.

Kylo was pleasantly surprised, it was hardly a culinary masterpiece, but it was far better than anything he'd had for the past few months, perhaps years even, and soon he was finishing off the plate, temporarily forgetting where he was, and just how bizarre the situation he was stuck in was too.

Once the plate was empty, he looked up again to find that Hux was watching him with a wide smile,

"What?" he couldn't help but reply, raising an eyebrow,

The redhead laughed once more and walked around the kitchenette, going to stand beside him, "Nothing" he said shaking his head, before pressing yet another kiss to Kylo's cheek, "I'm going to get dressed" he then added, heading back towards the bedroom.

His eyebrows now knitted together with further confusion, the ravenette stood from the stool with a sigh and took another look about the living area. He made his way to the centre of the room, his hands on his hips and he turned to look out through the huge, ceiling to floor window that led out onto a balcony, and looked out over what appeared to be a city.

Briefly checking that Hux was nowhere in sight, Kylo approached the door and opened it, letting a gentle, but cold breeze roll in and touch his bare skin. He stepped out onto the balcony regardless, his bare feet on the freezing stone, and he observed the buzzing city about him. Like old Coruscant, the place was made up of tall reaching buildings as far as the eye could see, but they seemed to be made of stone rather plate metal. Kylo was quite sure he hadn't seen anything like it before, but right now he would hardly consider that the biggest of his problems,

The balcony was small, but there was space for two people to comfortably spend time there when the weather permitted, as he didn't doubt there had been. There was a tiny table in the corner, with two rickety looking deck chairs. Most importantly however, there was a punching bag set up at its centre, hanging from a metal frame.

As soon as Kylo saw the small pair of thickly padded gloves lying on the floor beneath the bag, he took it as an invitation to playout his regular morning routine, and as such he pulled them on and regarded the vinyl covered bag.

Within a few minutes, sweat was already collecting on his brow as he punched the bag repeatedly, making it shudder about wildly,

"Starting early this morning?" came Hux's voice after a few more minutes of relentless exercise,

Kylo gave a brief sideways glance to the man in question, catching sight of him of him leaning in the doorway back into the apartment, his arms folded and a huge smile spread across his face,

The ravenette simply nodded in response, clenching his jaw a little tighter and hitting the punching bag only harder,

"Well you might want to get dressed, the forecast says there's going to be rain" he said, "Oh, and you might want to stop giving the neighbours such a spectacle" he added, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

That made Kylo stutter, and he missed the bag as it swung back towards him, luckily he caught it however, and he was left holding it, his gaze now focused on Hux who was still smirking at him,

"Y-yeah, okay" he nodded, licking his lips nervously,

The redhead returned the gesture and then disappeared back into the apartment.

Kylo released one long breath and then went back to look at the city,

For Hux to have kissed him on the cheek repeatedly was one thing, but to openly flirt with him was another,

If it was down to him, he would've chosen to stay on the balcony for longer, as that way, he was away from the other man, and had space to mull over what was happening as much as he wanted, but as a fat droplet of water hit the centre of his forehead, and then rolled quickly down his nose, he knew it was time to go in.

Kylo entered the apartment cautiously, hoping not to bump into Hux, but as soon as he stepped inside, he found him. He was currently lounging on the sofa in the living room, a thick hardbacked book resting in his lap,

"Remember to take a shower too" he said as the ravenette attempted to creep past him without being noticed,

He nodded but didn't speak as he made his way back towards the bedroom, each progressive footstep getting faster and faster until the door was closed behind him.

Kylo let out a long, deep sigh, his back against the bedroom door as he slid down it, finally meeting the floor,

The obscurity of what was happening was overwhelming, nothing made any sense and yet as far as Hux seemed to be concerned, everything was as it should be, although the man in question hardly acted like the Hux Kylo knew.

Each solution the ravenette came up with seemed more unlikely than the last.

He could've been kidnapped and subjected to some kind of mind control- but why on earth would his enemies wish him to see what he was seeing? What would be the gain of this?

A solar flare could've sparked up from the closest sun and hit the Finalizer, some kind of ancient sun which made people hallucinate- but had that actually happened to anyone else ever?

Hux could've drugged him as some kind of joke or punishment- but how, and again, more importantly, why?

None of this made sense.

Kylo sighed once more and stood, bustling out of the room all at once, and entering the room across the corridor, which was luckily, as he had expected, the bathroom.

He closed the door behind him, and turned on the shower, making it blast scolding hot water against the glass wall of the cubicle. The ravenette stripped down, depositing his underwear by the door, and turned down the dial on the shower, making the water just bearable, before he climbed into its spray, immediately allowing his hair to be drenched.

Kylo played out the morning routine he would usually perform, making the moments he closed his eyes almost feel like he was back on the Finalizer, back to normality.

After a good fifteen minutes, he was done, and he wrapped a towel from the heated rack around his waist, as well as a smaller one around his shoulders, catching all of the water dripping from his hair.

He then regarded himself in the cloudy mirror, and was almost disappointed to find that he looked as he always did, meaning that not everything was out of the ordinary,

He brushed his teeth, and roughly dried his hair with the towel, now opting to be exhausted by whatever was happening, rather than overly concerned.

Kylo then opened the bathroom door once more, allowing the steam to escape, and the cooler apartment air greet his skin,

It was now that he finally faltered in his otherwise robotic movements, pausing in the doorway as he checked for any sign of Hux.

When he was sure that the man wouldn't see him moving across the corridor, dressed only in a short towel, he darted to the bedroom, closing the door behind him as he went with a little more of a slam than he had intended.

As the ravenette stood where he sat before, thinking on the obscure solutions of the situation he was in, a thought crossed through his mind.

What if he was stuck in some odd dream?

Dreams were meant to be culminations of experiences from the days before. Perhaps what he was experiencing now was his brains way of resolving the problems from the previous day?

It solved his loneliness with the companionship of the person he had been at odds with.

While it was peculiar that Hux was the choice company, some sort of telling thing Kylo was sure, that he definitely didn't want to go deeper into, it made sense didn't it?

That must've been it, yes, in fact he was almost sure.

That didn't make it much better though did it?

Kylo frowned and took to drying himself off with the towel, thinking on his dream theory further as he approached a wardrobe on the other side of the room.

After a bit of rooting, he found underwear, a pair of tight but comfortable black trousers, a black t-shirt and a dark grey jumper, which he all applied to his body.

The ravenette then left the bedroom, now more adamant than ever that he was stuck in some kind of dream, a dream unlike any he'd had before. He approached the living room once more, but paused at the fresh hold, his eyes focused on the back of Hux's head.

There was nothing else to do, but to let this dream playout, until his alarm went off, bringing him back to normality.

Kylo sighed but finally took the final step into the living room. Hux did not react to his presence, even as he joined him on the couch, and gave a sideways glance to watch the man as he continued to read.

One of the ravenette's eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise, but instead of drawing attention to himself, he instead took up one of the other books from the table and opened it on the first page,

He noted after a few silent moments of reading, that the story upon the pages seemed familiar to him, as though it were a tale he had only heard once before, and had since forgotten, only for it to feel new now, with slight moments of recognition, from an unknown source.

The dark leather cushion of the couch he as sitting on suddenly shifted, bringing him back into his current time and place,

Hux was shuffling over to him, still half concentrating on his book.

Soon enough the redhead was right beside him, and with his eyes still upon the pages of the novel he was reading, he gently rested his head on Kylo's shoulder, nuzzling into it slightly to get comfortable.

Kylo was not left uncomfortable by the action, the other man was warm and a pleasant pressure against his shoulder, the only thing that threw him off about the situation was once again he fact that it was Hux who was beside him.

As he had before, the ravenette decided not to raise the issue, instead going back to what he was reading, finding the whole ordeal easier to deal with if he did just that,

After another handful of silent minutes, Hux lifted his head for a moment, leaning forward to deposit his book back on the table, before going back to leaning against Kylo, his side now even closer to the other mans.

Kylo thought that he must've been tired, and likely to fall asleep. It was then that he realised that he wouldn't have necessarily minded if Hux fell asleep on him, as there would be no obligation to talk that way, but he would still have the comfort of his body heat against him.

Eventually the other man sat up however, licking his lips just audibly as he did,

Kylo continued reading, finding himself about half way through his book now, and fairly determined to finish it, that was, until he felt the insistency of the gaze upon him.

His hands still holding the book in his lap, the ravenette looked across to Hux, who was now smiling softly at him,

He was obviously giving the man a particularly confused expression, as he chuckled after a moment, and then plucked the book from his grasp.

Kylo watched as the redhead placed his now closed book on the table, and then turned back to regard him. The man's pale hands came up slowly and gently encompassed Kylo's jaw,

He froze on the spot, and watched as Hux, his eyes now closed and smile having fallen as his lips puckered slightly, inched towards him.

Seeing little other option, the ravenette simply closed his eyes and waited, briefly having the foolish thought that maybe, just maybe he was misreading the situation, something that in his opinion, would be the better outcome, he thought, trying to convince himself.

He was wrong however, as almost as soon as his eyes closed, Hux's lips met his own as he had expected them to, a warm and ever so slightly damp pressure, rolling against his skin, and moulding gently with each kiss.

Hux's hands moved upwards, instead coming to rest on the back of Kylo's neck, where his fingers could tangle in his hair,

The man in question had never felt so conflicted in all his life.

He could hardly claim to not be kissing the redhead back, as he was, barely of course, but he was, pursing his lips, and moving them in time with the rhythm of the kisses.

While kissing Hux seemed like the most ridiculous, wrong and unlikely thing possible, he couldn't deny how nice he found the contact,

So much so in fact, that he sought to improve it, if at all possible, resting his own hands on the other man's hips and ribs, so he could pull him closer, and even increasing the involvement of his lips.

Soon, Kylo was entirely transfixed by the feeling of Hux kissing him, and he was not even taken aback as the man clambered from the couch to instead sit on his lap, their lips never disconnecting as he went.

The redhead's legs now rested either side of Kylo's, and his breathing had picked up considerably. His tongue then slid from his mouth, and lapped at Kylo's lips, which he opened without hesitation, allowing his own tongue to meet the probing muscle,

Hux preened in his lap, and hugged himself closer still to the ravenette, a muffled groan coming from his mouth, as they switched rolls and Kylo busied himself with putting his own tongue in Hux's mouth, revelling in the taste of coffee and mint.

"Ben" the other man then moaned, as their lips finally parted, his head going to rest on his shoulder, where his nose brushed gently against the ravenette's neck,

"Armity" he replied, bringing one hand up to rest in his hair,

Hux's mouth then met with Kylo's throat, his teeth racking across the sensitive skin, and his tongue then soothing it, making him gasp and groan, "Come on, let's go to bed", he said with husky breath.

Kylo froze on the spot, and everything seemed to come crashing down around his ears, "What?",

Hux looked up at him and smiled, his eyebrows raising suggestively, "Come on" he repeated, now standing, his hand going out to take the other mans.

Suddenly feeling the obscurity of the situation bearing down on him once more, Kylo stiffened up, but still allowed himself to be pulled from the couch, and indeed the room.

He watched as Hux opened the door to their bedroom, and finally let go of his hand, instead going ahead to clamber onto the bed, where he could in turn watch the ravenette, his teeth now tugging at his already red lips,

The sight of the man spread across the white covers of the bed, his pale skin flawless in the dim light, made Kylo's mouth go dry, and as he remembered the sensational feeling of kissing the man in question just moments before, he no longer felt any apprehension.

He approached the bed, and knelt on the mattress, moving slowly towards the other man,

Hux beamed and sat up, placing his hands on Kylo's shoulders, "I love you" he said softly,

Kylo couldn't help but think how un-Hux he was coming across, but how right those words sounded coming from him in that moment,

"I love you too" he nodded, convincing even himself as he spoke,

"Good" the redhead laughed, before he pulled the other man down with him to the bed, their lips meeting once more.

0o0o0

Kylo woke with a start, sitting up in his small, one person bed with the covers wrapped around him,

He was on the Finalizer, in his dark room, and from the looks of it, his alarm was minutes from going off.

So, it had been a dream then?

He blinked and violently rubbed the crystals of sleep from his eyes,

What was wrong with his mind to create a dream like that?

One in which he not only lived with Hux in some strange apartment, but was romantically involved with him. They had embraced, kissed, told one another that they loved each other, and even-

Kylo let out one, long, shaky breath at the thought of what he had done, even if it were only in a dream.

If he closed his eyes, he could almost still see Hux beneath him, moaning and writhing, and he could practically feel where bruises would've developed on his shoulders, from the redhead holding onto him so tightly, as if it was the only thing keeping him grounded.

Much to Kylo's charge-in, this dream wasn't fading as they usually would, if anything the memories were getting broader in his mind, even making him blush as he recalled some of the heavier moments.

The ravenette then shook his head however, deciding to ignore the thoughts and hopefully expel them,

He yanked the duvet from away his legs and climbed out of bed, turning off his alarm before it could go off, and gathering up a towel to take to the training room, pausing for just a moment as the messy bed before him came as oddly reminiscent, reminding him of the twisted covers that covered he and Hux after their-

That was quite enough of that,

Kylo then whisked from the room, in perhaps a worse mood than the day before.


	3. Chapter 3

The next evening, Kylo lay in bed staring at the ceiling for a long time.

The room was dark, but it had been more than long enough for his eyes to become accustom to dim light, and even exhausted, he could see every line in the grate of his ceiling. It had been hours, and he could even have counted them if he wanted to, anything to distract him.

If only.

The day had been awful, in some ways, far worse than any other day he could recall in current living memory. He just couldn't stop thinking about that dream, that infernal dream. It was haunting him, every detail was burned into his mind, even after only one visit.

But mostly, he couldn't stop thinking about Hux, and all the things they'd done together. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the man beneath him, cheeks flushed and teeth pulling at his red, quivering lips. If enough time passed as he thought, and if he concentrated, he could hear him, he could smell him, he could taste him.

And the worst was, Kylo liked it.

He realised very quickly, that he was thinking about the other world, and the other Hux because he wanted to, because it felt good to.

All morning he had denied it, he told himself that it was a lapse of some kind, and that he should be disgusted with himself, because what they had done, what _he_ had done, was… indecent.

It was wrong to want someone that much, for those reasons. Surely it was against every instinct, surely it would only be a detriment to him, to anyone who felt the same way.

Desire wasn't important.

And the fact that it was Hux of all people made it worse.

Hux was not someone to think about in this way, he shouldn't have even been put in a position where he could see or imagine him like that. All blushing faced, and his expression twisted into blind bliss.

But the more he thought about it, all he could remember was how _right_ it felt, how freeing it was, totally unlike his life outside of the dream. The Finalizer was stifling, and his duties even more so, but there was no escaping them, except perhaps in sleep. With sleep, would come these dreams, if that was indeed what they were.

And as such, now Kylo was conflicted.

He could fall asleep, dream of nothing, and return to his life, or he could hold onto the thoughts and feelings, and hopefully dream again, and Hux, this other Hux, would be waiting for him. But should he have wanted the dreams then?

Equally, if he fell asleep, and no visions of the other world came to him, would it be wrong to feel disappointed? He was more than certain he would, feel disappointed that was.

Memory was fickle, and if he never saw Hux again, _that_ Hux, then he'd disappear. Kylo would never know how it felt to have him beneath him again, or above him, or anywhere near him. He'd never be kissed like that again.

He would mourn those kisses.

Kylo sighed and looked to the hologram of the time displayed beside him in dim red numbers. It was the early hours of the morning now, and either way, he'd have to sleep soon.

He shifted on the mattress and closed his eyes, clutching at the covers which covered him from the waist down, until he relaxed his fingers, and laid them flat on the cool duvet.

Soon, Kylo felt the familiar tug of sleep, and when he could hardly force his eyes to open, he knew sleep was seconds away.

He felt as though only seconds had passed, but now his eyelids had lost the tired weight, and they opened almost easily.

The room was light, full of clean, warm air, and across from him on the bed was a sight that made his heart swell and his lips turn up into a smile.

Hux looked so peaceful, his soft hair flared about him on the pillow, and his expression so unaware, and gentle.

Kylo sank further into his own pillow, and very quickly all of the doubts and shame were forgotten, all he wanted to do was wake Hux up, and start another day with him.

0o0o0

A week later, Kylo woke to another empty bed.

But once more in a clean, white covered bed, in a bright two-person bedroom.

The bedroom door stood open, and across the hall the bathroom door was also wide open, framing Hux who stood brushing his teeth at the sink.

The passing nights had been to Kylo a separate life from that on the Finalizer, and he didn't mind that all that much at all. He fell asleep in one world and woke in another. He still didn't understand it, not in the slightest, but he realised now that he didn't care.

This Hux, Armitage, barely left his side. When he wasn't a few feet away, using the bathroom, cooking in the kitchen, or reading at the other end of the couch, he was more often than not beneath the ravenette. They shifted together, like two pieces of the same machine, but unlike cold machinery, the activity was practically spiritual.

The noises Hux made were like obscene prayers, and they both spent plenty of time on their knees.

Kylo sighed, and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face,

The redhead spat out the foam in his mouth, cleaned his toothbrush and his face and then turned to look to the bedroom as he put the towel back on the drying rail,

"Morning" he laughed, approaching he bed, dressed only in his underwear,

"Good morning" Kylo nodded, sitting up a little.

Hux stopped atop the duvet and smiled down at the other man, before going in for a kiss,

The ravenette gladly accepted it, sitting up further and placing his hand on the back of his neck, guiding him into a deeper kiss.

"Mmm" he hummed in response once they pulled away from each other, "Breakfast?",

"I could do with a shower actually" Kylo laughed, biting his lip,

"Well…" Hux trailed off, leaning forward to kiss at his neck, "How about we have breakfast- and then- shower together?" he asked, between drawn-out touches across his jugular,

Kylo raised an eyebrow and let out a breathy chuckle, "Okay, I like that plan more" he said with a nod.

"Good" the redhead laughed, "Pancakes?" he suggested, shuffling back to the edge of the bed,

"Perfect" the other man nodded, searching the floor for something to wear as he was currently completely exposed beneath the covers,

"Ten minutes" Hux nodded, leaving the room.

The only underwear Kylo could find were soiled, so instead he grabbed a new pair from the chest of drawers on his way out. He then made his way down the corridor to the kitchen, soaking in every detail as he went and marvelling at his incredible change of attitude. It was some kind of strange effect that Armitage had on him, it made him forget the apprehension, and all that was left was the desire, and dare he say, love?

Kylo sat at the diner and watched dreamily as the man in question whisked around the kitchen, preparing what was sure to be one of the finest breakfasts Kylo had ever eaten,

Hux winked at him every time their eyes met, and soon enough he stood from the counter and joined him in the kitchen, wrapping his arms around the redhead's waist, and kissing the space between his neck and his shoulder at every opportunity.

"Nearly done Ben, want to sit down?" Hux asked, sliding one of the last pancakes onto a waiting plate,

The way he said his name made Kylo stir, it only sounded right coming from him, "Hmm, I don't know" he replied, his hands trailing down the other man's sides and stopping at his abdomen, his fingers brushing the waistband of his briefs,

"Ass on seat Solo" Hux said with a chuckle, cocking his hips back and knocking Kylo off of him.

The ravenette sighed and went back to sit at the diner, being greeted with a stack of pancakes on a plate seconds later,

"Breakfast, then play" Hux said, sitting opposite him, raising an eyebrow as he cut a pancake with the edge of his fork,

"Deal" Kylo nodded.

As he expected, the pancakes were quite unlike anything he had ever eaten, light, sweet and wholesome,

Feeling particularly useful, he then offered to clean the plates once Hux had collected them and put them in the sink.

The redhead laughed and sat on the counter to watch him do as such,

Having not cleaned the dishes almost his entire life, Kylo took his time, but mostly so he could also watch the other man who was in turn watching him.

"Come on, time for that shower you're so interested in having" Hux smirked as the last plate was slotted into the drying rack,

"Excellent" Kylo nodded, situating himself between the other man's legs that were dangling from the counter.

He placed his hands on his hips, and slowly moved them downwards to rest under his thighs,

"I love you" the redhead beamed, winding his arms around his neck,

Kylo smiled back and lifted him easily from the counter, "I love you too" he nodded.

They made their way to the bathroom, the ravenette placing the other man on the counter top as he brushed his teeth and they wait for the shower to heat up. They then stripped each other of their underwear and stepped into the hot spray together, their hands entwined.

Under the shower jets, Kylo found his thoughts escaping him as everything else melted away and only Hux and his hands seemed to exist.

When they weren't touching one another, their lips never parted, and overall, time became a fiction in the close, hot cubicle,

By the time they had finished, it was miraculously night time, the sky outside a mixture of pink and purple.

Hux yanked Kylo to the bedroom and quickly unravelled the towel from his waist, pulling him down onto the bed,

Kylo of course, followed in every step.

0o0o0

They looked the same, but they weren't the same. That was something Kylo couldn't quite get over.

He had couldn't figure out why the dream Hux was so different to the real one. Maybe the dream Hux was just more suited to him, because he had been the one to think him up.

Unfortunately, their differences couldn't stop Kylo from watching the real Hux however, every time he saw him, all he could think about was his Hux, the one who kissed him, held him, told him that he loved him.

The one who writhed beneath him, touched him in all the right places, moved his tongue like-

Kylo nearly coughed out loud.

That was quite enough of that, sitting on the bridge was hardly a place to get hard.

Six nights had passed, and each time he had dreamed that he had the company of Hux. They fell into an easy routine of spending time together, reading on the couch, eating together, and of course having a tremendous amount of sex.

That made it all the more difficult to see the real Hux, acting as he always did, namely being so cold to Kylo.

Currently he was stood across the bridge, looking over his data pad and gently shaking his head,

The way he stood so upright, one hand on his hip, was driving the Sith knight mad,

It made him think of one particular night when he had raked his teeth across Hux's hip and left a purple mark from sucking at the skin, only to be massively enthused the next night when the bruise was gone.

The ravenette shook his head, and let out a deep breath, his attention going back to the Hux that stood before him.

The man in question moved suddenly, heading straight for the exit it seemed, and Kylo quickly followed, keeping him sight as he made his way down one of the corridors.

It was hard to tell where Hux was going, it was almost as if he was wondering aimlessly. Kylo made sure to stay ten feet behind him, ensuring that there were people between them as much as possible,

He couldn't help but follow him, he wasn't the Hux he knew, but he was the next best thing and although it seemed unlikely, he had become increasingly happier the longer he spent with the man.

Hux turned a corner to the right, and Kylo sped up a little as to not lose him,

When he too turned the corner however, he found an empty corridor, there weren't even any troopers.

The ravenette began cautiously down the corridor, but after taking a few steps through the silence, it became clear that he'd somehow lost the other man. He sighed and paused by a window that looked out into the vastness of space.

Nothing put life into perspective quite like this sight.

Kylo sighed and placed one hand on the glass, leaning against it contemplatively,

There was too much on his mind, far too much. It was making it impossible to think of anything else, but at least the thoughts enthralled him, made him feel less alone.

"Ren?" came the stern question from behind him,

Kylo nearly jumped out his skin, but luckily he just managed to catch himself just in time, and he turned to regard who had spoken.

Hux stood behind him, his arms folded and a furious expression on his face,

The other man gulped and quickly removed his helmet, acting entirely on instinct,

The redhead seemed very unimpressed however, "Would you like to explain why you've been following me?" he asked, his tone pointed.

"I- err" he responded, his mouth having gone dry, "I wasn't",

He raised his eyebrow and continued to glare, "If this is under some kind of 'secret' instruction of Snoke's or worse yet, some kind of fools errand you have put yourself on, then I insist that you cease immediately",

"I wasn't following you" Kylo insisted,

"Do you take me for some kind of moron Ren?" Hux snapped,

The other man was very quickly starting to remember why he disliked this Hux, not even the one he spent his evenings with could make up for the cruelty in this one, "Don't flatter yourself commander, following you would suggest that you were of some kind of importance"

His mouth fell open a little, until his jaw clenched, "You will show me respect Ren, immediately, or I-"

"You'll do what commander?" Kylo asked, cutting in and managing the best scowl he could in retaliation.

Hux's eyes seemed to shake with anger in their sockets, and before he could restrain himself, he had brought his balled fist thundering upwards, colliding directly with Kylo's left cheekbone.

Kylo was left in shock, it wasn't just that Hux had hit him -that was of course a rarity- but it was also something about the very feeling of their skin touching in that moment.

It was like he'd been struck by lightning on that exact spot, and now the jolt was spreading down through his body, electrocuting him in every fibre of his being.

He found himself unable to recall a single occasion when his bare skin had touched, or had been touch by the bare skin of the real life Hux. He had struck him, yes, but Kylo didn't feel any pain.

For the briefest of seconds, he had found the contact nothing but erotic.

He watched as Hux's Adams apple bobbed in his throat, and an expression of surprise covered his own face, and perhaps a second of panic. He was in total shock that he had let his steely resolve crack, and that he had allowed himself to react in such a way. But clearly he was also expecting retaliation in some form, probably a fist connecting with his own face, and he couldn't keep the worry from his expression.

And any other day, Kylo would've obliged. But now he was frozen,

It couldn't be avoided, like it or not, this was the face of the man he loved.

The ravenette gripped his helmet so hard, he thought it would crack, and with a deep sigh, he turned on his heal and resolutely walked away.

He walked directly to his room, hardly thinking about each turn as it came, and then he sat, for the longest of times.

He wasn't over thinking, he wasn't thinking at all, he was just very lost. He didn't know what or indeed how to think. He was hardly certain of how he had made it back to his room.

Kylo finally looked up from his clasped hands a few hours later, and was met with a read out on his bedside table that told him that the night had come,

He stripped down to his underwear slowly, and climbed into bed, finding that no matter which way he lay, he was uncomfortable.

Kylo wanted nothing now but to sleep, dreams or no dreams, and thankfully it came to him soon.

0o0o0

Kylo woke to a marvellous view of Hux's back.

With each breath, his muscles shifted beautifully, moving around the dip of his spine and over his sharp shoulder blades.

The ravenette smiled and let out a long, smooth breath.

Slowly, his hand spanned the short distance across the mattress, and his fingers grazed the pale skin of the man's back. At first he followed the gaps between muscles, but soon he instead took to joining each freckle, making constellations on his flesh.

One evening that had passed, he had stayed up worshipping those tiny mark, touching his lips to each other them. The noises Hux had made that night were musical.

The redhead took in a deep breath after a few minutes, and Kylo smiled again, retracting his hand,

"Good morning" he said softly,

Hux rolled his shoulders and coughed, clearing his throat, but he didn't answer.

He then shifted, turning onto his back, and then onto his other side, so he could face the ravenette,

The expression he wore was wholly peculiar, until all of sudden he frowned and Kylo's stomach sank,

" _Ren_?" he asked sharply, "What the _fuck_ is going on here?"


	4. Chapter 4

" _Ren_?" Hux asked sharply, "What the _fuck_ is going on here?",

Kylo blinked, taken aback, "What?",

The redhead scrambled to sit up quickly, dragging the covers around himself, as he glared about the room, interrogating it, "Where are we?",

The other man sat up too, less concerned about covering himself, "Our apartment…?" he said softly, raising an eyebrow.

Hux hardly seemed to take that as explanation however, and his expression became a scowl, "What have you done? Drugged me? Knocked me out and brought me here?",

Very slowly, far slower than it should have taken him, the realisation dawned on Kylo. This wasn't Hux, not _his_ Hux at least, this was- _Somehow_ , this was the _General_.

"Hux, listen to me" he said evenly, almost impressing himself with how coolheaded he was, "Stay calm"

"Stay calm?" he scoffed, now going as far as to retreat from the bed all together and grabbing a shirt from the ground to cover himself, "You had better explain Ren, explain this immediately!" he barked, making his identity as the order giving General all the more obvious.

"I will, I-" Kylo faltered, shrugging a little, "I'm just not sure I understand it all myself anyway",

"Very well" he snapped, his cheeks stained red with fury and possibly some embarrassment too, "Tell me what you do know then!"

The ravenette took a deep breath, steadying himself, "A few days ago, when I fell asleep, I woke up here" he began,

Hux seemed to be following him, as he gave one sharp nod for him to continue,

"At first I was confused, just as you are now-" he added, gesturing to the other man, even if he didn't seem to appreciate the comparison, "I thought maybe I'd been drugged, or perhaps even that someone was using the force to manipulate my mind, but then it became very clear",

"' _Clear'_?" the redhead yelled, "What about this is 'clear'?",

"We're dreaming"

Hux blinked and put a stop to the retort he was working on before it even left his mouth. He looked about the room again, and then to the window above the bed, squinting at the light that poured through it, "I suppose- yes" he nodded, "That adds up",

Kylo shifted on the mattress and quickly got up from the bed, pulling on a pair of lounge trousers that he located on the ground, "I don't know how it happened or why, and it is not my doing",

The redhead looked completely unconvinced by that, but didn't address it, "So what, we're sharing a dream? Or am _I_ in _your_ dream?"

"I don't know" the other repeated,

Hux rose an eyebrow and began to button up the shirt that was now hanging about his shoulders, "Were you alone?",

The Sith knight could feel the tips of his ears burning, as his look of neutrality became worried, embarrassed almost, "What?"

"You didn't seem too surprised to see me here, to be sharing a bed with me" he replied, folding his arms, "Explain that",

Kylo stifled an awkward cough and lowered himself to the bed once more, staring at the white covers, "What do you mean? What- what're you suggesting?",

"You know perfectly well what I'm suggesting Ren" the redhead snapped, "Now tell me, were you alone here!?",

"No!"

Hux stiffened up as he shouted the response, but showed no fear in the face of it, "So who was your company?"

"You were" the ravenette said quietly, he then winced a little, "But you weren't. You were you, but you weren't you",

"That makes no sense Ren" the other said with a sigh, sitting on the other side of bed and looking vaguely for a pair of trousers.

"Fine" Kylo grumbled, "Then he _looked_ like you, and his last name was Hux",

"What was his first name?",

"Armitage"

The redhead paused, "'Armitage'?",

The larger man looked over his shoulder, "Yeah, why?",

Hux shook his head, "Believe it or not, that's my name" he then sighed and took up a pair of jeans from the foot of the bed, "Seems your company- it sounds like _I_ was here with you",

"No, he was far more agreeable" Kylo said, sneering at the other man,

"Oh really?" he asked, quirking his brow as he pulled on the trousers, and tucked in his shirt, "So agreeable that you didn't mind sharing a bed with him?",

Kylo felt a blush come to his face again, darker and hotter this time,

" _Great_ " Hux said with a sarcastic sigh, and with that, he stomped from the room, slamming the door closed behind him,

The ravenette gripped the bedsheets beneath his hands, feeling a sort of primal anger beginning to strain his muscles already.

0o0o0

After some time had passed, although he was not sure just how long, Kylo opened the bedroom door, and stood staring down the length of the short corridor outside of it.

Part of him hoped that somehow Hux had disappeared, he'd rather be alone than with the real General, in fact the idea of an empty apartment was becoming more and more pleasant by the minute,

It was certainly silent enough to be empty, but the ravenette knew for a fact that Hux could simply stand in silence for up from an hour, just thinking, strategising.

He sighed and stepped out, now more dressed, albeit slightly, and began towards the living space, walking a little slower than perhaps he usually would.

Just as he came to the corner, he became aware of light footsteps padding towards him, but before he could locate them, they rushed to him and then streaked past.

A cat was in the apartment.

 _A slender ginger cat._

 _How was a cat in the apartment, in his dream, in his mind?_

… _Had he somehow turned Hux into a cat?_

Kylo sighed again, what a ridiculous thought.

He rolled his eyes at himself and took another step forward, entering the wide living space just in time to see the cat jump up from the ground and into the lap of the General, who was sat in the only single person seat they had.

Hux was holding a book which he was reading with a highly suspicious air, and once the cat settled down on his legs, he set the other hand stroking it,

"What is that?" Kylo asked, keeping his distance still,

The redhead cooked his jaw slightly and turned his eyes to the other man, slipping his look of disinterest to one of disdain with impressive ease, "What is what?",

" _That_ " he repeated, raising a hand to point to the animal that had apparently joined them.

"It's a cat Ren, are you seriously so uneducated that you've never seen one?" Hux replied, closing his book,

"I know what a fucking cat is" the ravenette snapped back quickly, "How the hell did it get here?",

The General rolled his eyes and shook his head, "This is a dream" he said, as though that made it obvious,

Seeing the look on Kylo's face, he realised that he would have to go into more detail however,

"In a dream, if you know that you're dreaming, you are often able to manipulate it" he explained.

The other man was actually slightly impressed, it was sound logic, and he certainly hadn't thought of it himself. He couldn't help but be confused still however: "You realised you could manipulate the dream, so you decided to introduce a cat?",

Hux huffed, "This clearly isn't a normal dream, I don't know exactly what can be changed, and what can't be" he then shrugged and turned his attention back to his book, "I thought I better start with something small",

Kylo arched an eyebrow, "But a _cat_?"

The redhead violently snapped the book shut, making the cat in question twitch in his lap, "If you must know, I had her as child. Excuse me for wanting something familiar in this place",

The knight remained silent for moment, mostly processing the prospect that he had actually just learnt something about Hux's personal life. He then shrugged however and with a sigh, finally lowered himself to the empty couch, thankfully on the far side of the room to the other man.

"I imagine you've had a look around then?"

The General sighed and closed his book once more, clearly realising that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on it anymore, "Yes, of course. Do you really think I'd be sat here reading, doing _nothing_ , if I had found something useful or of interest?",

Ignoring his harsh tone, Kylo continued, "And?",

"And what?" Hux replied, "The front door doesn't open, it's locked with no key holes or chains. All of the buildings surrounding us are entirely identical. There's a constant sound of traffic from outside, but when you look down to the street, it's completely empty. And finally, you can see a tree outside from the bedroom window"

"And?" the ravenette repeated, shrugging. He couldn't help but think that that last point had been a rather minor one, he wasn't even sure what the point of it was,

"It's a tree that couldn't possibly be there Ren, because we're twenty stories up" he replied, "This apartment couldn't possibly exist in any real setting", he then paused and arched one of his eyebrows expectantly, "Or have I missed something you haven't?"

Once again, the other man was impressed. In all honesty, those were things he hadn't noticed at all during his entire duration there, but in his defence, he did have one major distraction.

"No, I think that about sums it up" he said shaking his head, his eyes shifting out to the balcony,

Now he had mentioned it, he couldn't help but notice even from this distance, that every building across the road was indeed identical,

"So what do we do?" Hux asked,

"Hmm?" the Knight replied, turning back to him and raising his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Well you've been here before" the redhead said with a shrug, "How do we leave?",

"We don't" the other said, shaking his head,

"What?"

"We fall asleep here, and wake up on the Finalizer, just as we fell asleep on the Finalizer and woke up here, in the dream" Kylo replied, shrugging.

Hux's lips parted for a second, as he seemed to think on the new information, "Well, I don't feel tired",

The ravenette shrugged again, "Too bad",

He quickly stood from the couch, deciding very suddenly that engaging in conversation with the other man only ever made him feel frustrated, and in this case more embarrassed about the whole situation they found themselves in, especially the fact that he had been sleeping with Hux, in one form or other, for the past week or so. Kylo entered the kitchen and set about opening cupboards, trying to remember where his Hux had gotten ingredients for meals from, and indeed how he had put the meals together.

It didn't take him long to find everything for an omelette, including all the little details that Armitage had added to make it especially delicious, such as the dried herbs. After what could only be described as an uphill climb, he put together a palatable looking omelette, and carried it out to the balcony, refraining from making eye contact with the man still sat in the living room, but quite sure that he had caused some kind of jealousy in _him_ by achieving sustenance.

Kylo sat himself at the small table and began to eat his omelette. It wasn't a master piece of any kind, and he at one point found a small amount of egg shell in it, but the taste was more than satisfactory, and he sat for a good five minutes, enjoying his food. _Almost_ forgetting the disturbing new development in the dream world.

His joy was shattered before long however, as he quickly became unable to see anything but the fact that every building out there, _was_ exactly the same. Undeniably identical.

The longer he sat there the more he noticed it, and in the end, he begrudgingly had to turn away, facing the apartment instead to avoid having to see the painfully clear fact that he had not picked up on until _the General_ had said it.

Despite having been so confused in his first visit, and then having been in so much denial after the events that took place, it didn't take Kylo long to come to the feeling that this place was for him. He had thought that it had been built for him, a place for him to experience joy, with wonderful company no less.

But now, in new company, that idea was crumbling around him.

He sighed and jabbed at what was left of his now cold omelette,

Within the apartment, movement then caught his eye, and he swiftly forgot the food before him.

Hux was settling back down in the seat he had been in earlier. The cat was stooped by the side of the chair, her tongue lapping at a small bowl that had been placed there, and her master had apparently helped himself to food also. The redhead was balancing a bowl in his lap, and holding his book in the other, steely faced as ever.

His nonchalance only made Kylo angry again- he just had to be able to cook too, didn't he?

The ravenette took up his plate and stomped into the apartment once more, whisking through the living space and storming to the kitchen, where he froze at the sight he was met with.

He couldn't believe it! The bastard had cleaned all of the items he had used to prepare his food, and now they were drying on the rack by the sink!

Kylo dumped his plate on the side, opting to clean it later- he just couldn't stand the idea of giving the other man the satisfaction, standing in his line of sight and letting him watch as he cleaned up his own crockery.

The Knight left the kitchen once more and headed straight to the bedroom.

He considered slamming the door behind him, but guessed rather bitterly that that would probably earn some kind of sarcastic comment from Hux about him being a child.

He stripped off the hooded jacket had had found earlier and sat heavily on the bed, noticing all at once, just how heavy his breathing had gotten.

It was outrageous just how easily Hux could anger him. Whether it was in all those sardonic remarks, the way he felt the need to establish his superiority by making it clear that he was smarter than Kylo, or even just in the way that the ravenette could anticipate exactly how the redhead might react to his actions, and vice versa.

After minutes had passed, he stood on shaky legs and turned, very slowly to look out of the bedroom window.

Why did Hux always have to be right?

The branches of a tree did indeed splay out beyond the frame of the window, not a tree however, that could exist in the middle of the city.

Kylo gritted his teeth and slowly left the room once more, padding down the corridor and stopping at the fresh hold to the lounge space, setting his eyes directly on the redhead that still sat there,

After a few seconds, Hux realised that the other man had joined him, and he rose an eyebrow at the man.

The ravenette could've screamed, even that tiny action made a surge of rage pass through him.

He quickly broke off the eye contact the made for the balcony, as though that had been his destination from the start,

Hardly processing his actions as they played out, he strapped the gloves waiting on the ground to his hands and started at the punching bag. He skipped the build-up of power in each strike, and immediately set about making the heavy vinyl bag jump and rattle on its chains instead, with strong blow after strong blow.

As if his ears were filled with cotton, he drowned out all of his surroundings and hit over and over until his hands were sore, regardless of the protection of the gloves. Even after the ache set in, he continued, releasing the anger that had been building up in him, even over the short time that had passed since waking.

Soon though, he could feel eyes on him, and letting up his onslaught on the punching bag only a little, he briefly shifted his eyes to the side, seeing Hux watching from the door to the apartment,

"What?" he snapped,

The redhead sighed, and folded his arms, "You probably don't realise, but that's incredibly loud… and obnoxious" he replied,

"So?" Kylo barked, his wrists now starting to buzz with pain.

"So, stop it, I'm trying to read" the General said, tightening his own grip on his arm,

The ravenette scowled, "Leave me alone",

"I'm stuck here Ren, I'm stuck here with _you_ " Hux snapped, "If I have to put up with your company, I want to be able to ignore you, and at least read while I wait to get away. Your temper is ruining a perfectly simple, unspoken arrangement",

"And you've ruined this dream for me!" Kylo yelled, taking a step away from the punching bag and sweeping his arms in a grand gesture to encompass the city around them,

"What are you talking about?" Hux replied, his eyebrows knitting together,

The Knight shook his head, tearing the Velcro of his gloves open, "I had a nice apartment, somewhere I could relax with my nice, handsome boyfriend... Now all I've got is you" he concluded bitterly, now staring intently at the ground and throwing down the gloves.

That was the truth of it. He didn't just hate Hux because he treated him with such contempt, he hated him because he had taken away the one thing Kylo had left. A space so tender, with a man who loved him unconditionally.

A deafening silence sat between them for a moment after the admission, a silence that was only cut off as the redhead suddenly moved forward from the doorway,

As soon as he was close enough, he took Kylo's cheek into his hand, tilting his face up so their eyes met, and then, in less time than it took for the ravenette to let out a shocked breath, their lips became locked in a wholly desperate kiss.

Kylo couldn't help but wince at the contact, hoping beyond hope that it meant that everything was back to normal, and that he had his wonderful boyfriend back,

They then separated, but the ravenette found himself sinking his fingers even deeper into the others hair, keeping their faces close. He sighed, still holding the man against him, his eyes still shut to try and capture the moment he was hoping for,

"Armitage?" he asked softly, practically begging to have the man in question returned to him.

He did not reply, and Kylo begrudgingly opened his eyes,

"Never call me that again" the redhead commanded, before pulling him into another lip bruising kiss.

The other man's eyes bulged from their sockets as he was not only held firmly in the violent kiss, but guided back into the apartment from the balcony, being led directly to the couch,

They landed with a thump and a slight groan, their lips never parting.

 _'Never call me that again'?_ That could only mean one thing. It wasn't the fantasy that Kylo had grown to love that was kissing him right now, it was Hux. The real Hux. The man who argued with him, looked down on him, and treated him worse than a dog. Hux was the one pulling at his lips, writhing and moaning beneath him from their contact, and running his hands along his sides. Hux was the one who wanted him, and in that moment, Kylo couldn't help but realise how hot under the collar that made him.

Blocking out all thoughts of just how obscure this all was, the ravenette finally pushed back against Hux's relentless onslaught, sliding his dominant tongue into the others small but sweet mouth, earning another deep groan from him,

He then moved his strong hands to the General's legs that were bent either side of him, allowing Kylo to lie intimately close to his body, and he hooked them around the back of the redhead's thighs, hoisting him up from the couch with very little effort. The smaller man squealed in response and gripped onto the ravenette's shoulders even tighter,

"What're you doing?" Hux panted as he began to run his tongue across Kylo's neck, his legs twisted around his waist to keep from falling,

"Bedroom" he replied with a grunt, squeezing the redhead's thighs before locking their lips into another rough kiss, as he stumbled the short distance to the bedroom, carrying the other man.


	5. Chapter 5

It was early morning and the corridors across the Finalizer were completely empty, still sparsely lit even, mimicking early morning light as it would be on a planet.

Kylo was glad of it, he was hardly dressed appropriately to be seen by anyone, whether they were an inconsequential subordinate or otherwise,

He was rushing to Hux's room, still sleep addled but so one track minded that he couldn't be stopped.

The moment he had woken, he'd shot out of bed, pulled on the closest clean clothes and barrelled from his room, hardly registering the time or even the temperature,

The corridors were cold, and the jacket separating his bare skin from the cool air was hardly making a difference.

Kylo didn't care though, as he was now approaching the door he was aiming for,

He stopped in the corridor and planted his feet firmly on the ground, raising his fist to confidently knock on the cold metal door.

He waited for almost a full minute until it finally slid open to reveal the darkness of the room beyond, and Hux himself who looked quite rough, for a lack of a better word.

Kylo licked his lips, "I think we need to-" he cut himself off, distracted by his own nervousness, "Can we talk?"

The redhead visibly swallowed, dislodging a lump in his throat and gave a single curt nod, stepping aside to allow Kylo entrance.

He hung his head a little and ducked in, the door sliding shut behind him,

The room was very dark indeed, lit only by the dim red readout of the time beside the bed, and the hundred, thousand stars visible out of the window, casting light on them from millions of miles away.

The bed covers were an utter mess, twisted and bundled, barely lying on the mattress as they spilled onto the floor,

But the General himself looked worse.

He'd clearly had to pull on a pair of trousers to answer the door, they were dark and well fitting but also creased and riding up at the groin as he'd dressed in a rush,

His top half was covered by a light grey vest which left his pale, thin arms bare, as well as his narrow shoulders which were sprinkled densely with freckles.

Kylo swallowed thickly at the sight of them, but the man's graceful, unmarked neck was even more distracting.

Hux's hair was tussled, his eyes were half closed and sporting dark bags, and he was in need of a shave too.

The ravenette came to a stop at the foot of the bed, his hands in his jacket pockets and his shoulders shrugged in discomfort,

"Do you always wake up this early?" Hux asked, after the silence between them had already stretched on for far too long,

He had moved past Kylo after only a few seconds, and was now looking to his desk, one hand working lazily at a list of unread messages on his data pad.

"Hmm?" the other man asked, his brow furrowing,

Hux licked his lips and looked up to him, "After the dreams?" he said, folding his arms, "Do you always wake up so early after them?",

Kylo blinked and parted his lips a little- that was more than enough to confirm that they truly had shared the dream, and _everything_ that had happened during it,

Not that he doubted it all the much really.

Kylo shrugged softly and then let out a sigh, watching the lethargic expression the redhead was wearing- he was giving very little away.

"So?"

Hux frowned and slowly made his way over to the bed, sitting heavily on it, "'So'" he repeated softly, staring out of the wall sized window he was facing,

The other man wasn't sure if he was silent because he didn't _want_ to talk, or just because he was too tired- or maybe he just didn't know _what_ to say all together. Kylo would understand that, he felt just the same.

He slunk over to the bed and sat down as well, only realising the tension that that created once he was settled- it brought back memories that made him blush, but it would only make it worse to stand again.

"Ren?" Hux asked softly, speaking after a few moments,

The ravenette turned, to his surprise the other man was looking right back at him, gazing into his eyes,

"Hux?" he replied, watching as his pupils drifted downwards.

The General was looking at his lips now, but wasn't doing anything to hide the fact, he was likely too tired to bother denying it,

He reached a hand up, letting it rest on Kylo's cheek.

The Knight allowed it, morbidly fascinated by what could happen next,

The redhead leant upwards and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

The warmth and sincerity of the contact felt so uniquely singular to Kylo, it was nothing like that which he had experienced in the dream, both before and after _General_ Hux's arrival,

It felt real, there was no other way to put it.

Hux clearly didn't plan on lingering in the kiss for long, but the ravenette put his own hand to the man's back before he could pull away, and instead kept him in place, prolonging it,

He swiped his tongue against the General's bottom lip, and was allowed to briefly enter his mouth, tasting the very _real_ , stale morning breath that the redhead had.

Kylo didn't mind, and when they eventually separated, he let his fingers stay on the base of Hux's skull, rubbing small circles with his finger tips across the short hair there.

The other man bit his lip, and the ravenette did everything he could to ignore the surge of heat that spiked through him,

All dishevelled, tired and with his teeth tugging at his lip, Hux was undeniably attractive, and now knowing that Kylo himself could bring him to that state -as he had in their shared dream earlier- the man's blood was starting to boil,

The redhead could clearly tell.

He quirked a pale eyebrow, "Why are you holding back?" he whispered,

The Knight was sorely tempted to take revenge for the hit the other man had dealt him the previous day, teasing him at a time like this, but he settled for the next best thing, pulling him into a relentless open-mouthed kiss, pushing him backwards until his back met with the mattress.

Hux smirked against him and brought his legs up to rest either side of Kylo, keeping him close to his own body.

0o0o0

The next week or so became an utter whirlwind of serious work and incredibly physical, scorching hot sex.

During the daytime, or as close to that as they had on the Finalizer, Kylo Ren and General Hux mostly ignored one another, accept of course, when interaction became absolutely necessary -mostly for meetings with Supreme Leader Snoke.

In the evening however, it was another matter.

The Knight would come to the General's quarters after exercising (and of course showering) and would be greeted usually with a partially undressed Hux, moments away from finishing his work, and more than ready for physical company.

The contact was almost primal, they were reduced to the animalistic groans that accompanied base emotions and sensations of the body.

It was definitely a more satisfying way of resolving their anger towards each other, far more satisfying than shouting matches or even violence, which had happened only a handful of times before.

Then, once the two fell asleep on the Finalizer, they of course continued their time in the dream,

They shared companionable silences and sometimes light conversation, but for the most part, they just re-enacted another carnal dance until they knocked themselves out with fatigue.

It was entirely out of the ordinary of course, but it was their routine, a routine neither of them was in a great rush to change.

On the eighth day however, Kylo was met with a new scenario upon entering the General's room,

On that first morning, Hux had looked worse for wear, on a usual day, he would be tired from work, but today he looked down right awful.

"Are- are you okay?" Kylo asked as the door slid closed behind him,

"Just ill" the redhead snapped in response, sniffling and walking over to his desk,

There were huge bags under his eyes making them look sunken, his lips were so pale and dry that they seemed to blend into the rest of his waxen skin, and his movements were jittery.

"Oh" the other man replied, "Do you- do you want me to leave?"

Hux looked over his shoulder and shrugged, "No-" he cut himself off with a cough, "No you can stay if you- if you want" he replied, a slight blush developing over his cheeks, "But-"

"Hmm?" the ravenette asked, removing his jacket,

"Do you mind if we don't- if we don't-?"

The General seemed embarrassed by having to ask, and for a moment Kylo found himself wondering why. He didn't say so though, he just nodded, "That's fine, we don't need to do, _anything_ ",

Hux coughed again, "Thank you"

In silence the two then finished undressing, no longer nervous about nudity in front of one another, and they slipped into bed, the General easily slotting in beside the other man.

After a few more minutes, Kylo could feel the redhead's breathing shift, and when he was sure he was asleep, he curved his arm around the man's shoulders, pulling him in closer. He was glad of the extra warmth beside him as he slept, not that he would mention that to the General though.

0o0o0

Kylo woke to find Hux awake beside him already, an open book in his hands and a pair of glasses perched on his nose,

He looked infinity more healthy here in the dream than he had before they had fallen asleep, but the ravenette supposed that that was inevitable in this place, this _perfect_ place.

"Good morning" he said softly, rolling his shoulders and turning on the mattress,

"Morning" Hux replied, closing his book and looking over to him, his glasses slipping slightly further down on his narrow nose,

"Feeling better?"

"Of course" he replied, smiling,

Kylo couldn't help but grin in response, "Feeling up for more of the usual then?"

The redhead shrugged nonchalantly and removed his reading glasses, "I suppose" he said folding them away and placing them with his book on the bedside table. He then turned back to the other man and quirked his brow at him suggestively,

At first, the Knight had been shocked to discover that he had a sense of humour at all, but now he was glad of it. Hux's humour matched his own, or at the very least it appealed to him, all sarcasm and teasing remarks.

Kylo shifted on the mattress and moved closer to him, coming down to rest above him, and placing a gentle kiss on his lips,

As he pulled away, a sort of pining sound left the General's throat, and his eyes squeezed shut,

The ravenette smirked and pulled away the thin covers that were draped over his body, moving down on the bed to instead place his mouth against the skin that lay exposed between his vest and briefs.

He would go as far as to say that he was more than a little obsessed with Hux's hips, they were narrow, pale, covered with freckles and on occasion marred by bruises caused by Kylo's own mouth,

"Ren" the redhead hissed as his tongue skimmed the edge of his bellybutton, his hands shooting up to grab hold of the headboard, his fingers gripping it tightly as heat coiled within him.

The other man chuckled and nipped at his skin, soothing it with the inside of his lip, "Mmm" he hummed, feeling the flesh quiver beneath him, "Armitage"

The body beneath him went rigged for a moment and the redhead coughed,

"Ren, do me a favour?"

"Hmm?" he responded, between more heated kisses placed against the other man abdomen,

"Don't call me that. Don't- don't talk about him" he stuttered, caught on knifes edge between pleasure and discomfort,

Kylo frowned and looked up from his stomach, "What?" he asked softly, his brow knitting together, "Why? _He's you_ "

Hux sighed and sat up, slipping out from under the other man. He pressed his back against the bedhead and rolled his neck, "No, he's not" he stated firmly, "And what was between you and him, isn't the same as what's happening here"

Confusion hit the ravenette and he sat up as well, "I don't understand"

He rolled his eyes and his hands began to twist together uncertainly, "We're fucking Ren. You and him, you and _Armitage_ -" he wore a look of disdain as he said the name, "-you had more than that. But we don't"

Kylo blinked at him, he wasn't even sure where that had come from, he thought the General had been enjoying himself. Perhaps he had been too distracted by his own pleasure,

"What?" he asked again,

Hearing the question leave his own mouth, the ravenette felt like a moron- it was made worse by the look Hux gave him that al but confirmed that he was.

"Excuse me" the redhead then said stiffly, making his way off of the bed and to the door in seconds flat, collecting a cardigan on his way,

Kylo sighed and deflated in the bed rather, pressing his nose into the pillow.

It had a fresh, clean scent, as it had all those nights ago when the dream had first presented itself. Now though, it retained a kind of heat, a life, something that set it apart from _then_ ,

The General had left an impression on the pillow.

The ravenette sighed and lifted his head after a moment, he then dragged himself from the bed and frowned at the prospect of putting on clothes. Even Hux was wearing more than him though, _even_ without the cardigan he had left the room with.

Kylo grumbled and tugged on a shirt, stomping from the room once it was laying untwisted around his arms,

As much as the idea made him uncomfortable, he knew that they wouldn't be able to easily get past whatever it was that had just happened. Hux tended to hold onto things as he had discovered, and whatever this was, was sure to leave him sour.

He found the man curled up in the single person chair once more, Millicent the cat sitting in a ball atop his legs,

He was stroking at her gently, watching the way her fur moved in spirals and swirls depending on how he pulled his hands through it,

Kylo frowned and sat on the couch, moving slowly and quietly,

He didn't doubt that the General knew he was there, but he wanted to keep the atmosphere calm.

After a few moments he addressed the man, "Are you okay?",

The redhead didn't look up, but he shrugged, sighing softly, "Fine" he replied,

The other man bit the inside of his lip, but stopped himself from getting angry at the vague answer- Hux didn't respond to anger- "I didn't- I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable" he said, his voice quiet,

He shook his head however, "You didn't"

Kylo quirked an eyebrow but said nothing- the man was very hard to read, and pushing out answers never worked, he just spoke at his own pace, and only shared information when he was ready to,

"As always, I was rather enjoying the company" Hux said, his eyes still on the cat, "But when you said _his_ name, it reminded me that-" he faltered, his frown becoming more set in his face, "-it reminded me that you'd rather be with him, not me",

"That's not true" the Knight said quickly,

"It is" the redhead replied, "You had a different kind of relationship with him, it's very clear. What you experienced with him was so much _more_ than what we give each other"

By now, Hux's eyes had lifted to look at the other man. They were watery, not on the verge of tears, but murky like a sea with clouds set above it. There was some kind of turmoil brewing behind those eyes,

Kylo dampened his lips and grimaced at the next thought that came to him, "Are you jealous?"

The General said nothing in response- the expression he had taken on was as good as an affirmative though, albeit a nervous one. He shrugged and shook his head, looking down to his lap again, "It wasn't just passion, was it?" he asked, "There was romance"

The ravenette couldn't quite believe what he was hearing, he had already learnt so much about Hux in the days that had passed, and yet it apparently wasn't enough, the man still had the ability to surprise him,

"Is that what you're jealous of?" he asked, his jaw hanging slack, "Hux, if I felt that there was any indication from you that you wanted that-"

"I do!" Hux then yelped, desperation almost overcoming him.

Millicent quickly fled from his lap and went to sit under the coffee table instead,

The General gave the look of a useless man, one out of options, and with speech that quaked as it left his mouth, admissions poured out of him, "It-it's lonely" he stated, now speaking at half the volume again, "The crushing void of space is so- so damn lonely. The prospect of having someone beside you in that, is a comfort"

He began to look about the apartment, everywhere but at Kylo- just as well he thought, as the Knight's completely befuddled expression would've only made all of this more difficult to say out loud,

"When I'm here, I feel safe. I can't explain it, but I'm safe here, with you. And _there_ , in my quarters... It feels less empty when you're there" he continued, his hands now coming up to hold his own arms below the elbow, as though he was holding himself steady, "I don't want to be alone, I _can't_ be anymore, not for a moment longer, I can't stand it"

Kylo stood swiftly from the couch and wound around the coffee table, coming to a stop and kneeling by the chair that Hux sat in. He wrapped his arms around the other man, tightly, feeling him turn his own form to lean against him. He could almost feel the General quivering. He didn't know what to say.

"I feel very foolish"

The ravenette winced and squeezed him a little tighter, using one hand to rub his back in what he hoped was a soothing manner,

"I can't believe I said any of that" Hux went on, talking directly into the other man's neck.

Kylo bit his lip for a moment before finally responding, "It is lonely" he began, pulling away to look the other man in the eye, "And from what I know, you've been alone a lot more than most",

Hux arched an eyebrow, albeit weakly, "And what is it that you know?",

The Knight shrugged softly, "I read your file a while back, just a few bits of it",

The redhead stiffened up.

He had no doubt that when Kylo referred to him being 'alone a lot more than most', he was likely referring to his childhood- domineered by his father, motherless, and forced to study everyday almost from birth. Beaten, abused and spread so thin he should've broken.

Usually he would've minded someone looking into matters so private, but considering how intimately well the ravenette knew him in some regards, he could hardly be angry at the idea that the man also knew some of his history,

Hux merely shrugged, opting to say nothing.

"But I get lonely too" Kylo continued, his hand now taking up the other man's smaller appendage and squeezing it softly, "And having you around has been-" he blushed a little, "-well, it's been quite agreeable. I've been holding the time very dear to me"

The other man was still quiet, having gone back to being completely unreadable as usual.

Kylo didn't know how much more he had to say, he couldn't really describe all he felt anyway. He _did_ enjoy Hux's company, and not just for the sex either, but it was still so odd, so obscure to him, that he could hardly admit his feelings to himself yet.

Hux dampened his lips with the tip of his tongue before shrugging again, "I'm sorry I can't be him" he said very softly,

The ravenette shook his head immediately, "No, don't apologise" he insisted, "I-" the flush across his cheeks now grew deeper, hotter and darker, "I actually quite like _you_ "

Hux looked sceptical, but once more said nothing,

"When we're together, just us, you're actually quite good company" Kylo said, smiling softly, "You're intelligent, witty-" he then paused and nearly laughed, "-and you've got a very well hidden, but raging libido"

The redhead blushed back now, not quite letting his own amusement get the better of him however,

"It also helps that you're attractive" the Knight admitted, " _I'm attracted to you_. Your body and your mind and your face. I want you Hux, I want _you_ "

The General's hands felt hot in his own, and his fingers began to curl, squeezing Kylo's in return,

"And I want you" he admitted,

The ravenette couldn't help but smirk, "Right now?" he asked softly,

Hux rolled his eyes but took in an amused breath, "Go on then, if you want me, carry me"

"Gladly" Kylo replied, before standing and taking hold of the other man by the hips.

He hoisted him up and naturally the redhead spread his legs so that his thighs could rest either side of his waist, his ankles meeting and twisting together for extra hold,

"Let's be gentle today" Hux whispered, resting his chin against the man's collar, and letting one of his hands roam into his thick hair,

"You want it slow?" the ravenette asked, beginning the route back to the bedroom,

Hux laughed and placed a kiss to his jaw, just below his earlobe, "Tender"

0o0o0

Kylo woke on the Finalizer long before even Hux's early alarm,

The man beside him, laying in his arms was also awake, but he was drifting so close back to slumber that he remained silent and unmoving.

The ravenette smiled and moved his head forward, letting his forehead meet with Hux's,

In response he wrinkled his nose and nudged it toward the other man's, bumping the tip of it against the Knight's own much larger nose.

Kylo let out an amused little breath and tilted his head slightly, getting just the right angle to press a soft kiss against Hux's lips,

The redhead pulled away from the kiss after a second and a sigh sifted through his parted lips, making a sort of contented sound,

"Go back to sleep" Kylo murmured, barely above a whisper, "I'll be here when you wake up" he added.

Hux licked his lips and ducked his head, resting it in the soft space below the other man's collar, just before the tight muscle of his chest. Soon enough his delicate breath became shallow, barely traceable, and the Knight knew that he was asleep once more.

He smiled and curved his arm more tightly around the General, delighted by the way his weight felt next to him. So obvious, but so natural.

Kylo had been aware of affection all his life, although he didn't admit it. Motherly affection, paternal affection, even the affection of assorted men he called 'uncle'.

But he had never felt anything quite like this,

It was like a very perfect and unlikely dream.


End file.
